Gurgaon founder calls out India’s long-hours work culture, says ‘Being available 24/7 doesn’t make you valuable’

For many Indians who move abroad for work, the biggest cultural shock isn’t just better infrastructure or higher salaries, it’s being able to log off work on time without feeling guilty. A recent social media post a Gurgaon-based founder highlighted India’s long work hours and sparked a discussion after describing how employees in India are often judged for leaving work at a reasonable hour, even if they’ve completed their tasks.The entrepreneur described how employees in India are often judged for leaving work at a reasonable hour. (Unsplash/Representational image)Taking to LinkedIn, Nha Tripathi, the co-founder of education consulting company 24NorthStar, wrote that in India, even after long workdays starting early in the morning, employees are met with remarks like “half day today?” if they log off around 6 pm. “In India, you feel guilty for leaving work at 6 pm. Even if you’ve finished your work. Even if you worked your back off the whole week. Even if you came in at 7 am. You’ll still get that subtle ‘half day today?’ joke,” she wrote.Contrasting this with her experience working with European teams, she noted that employees there routinely log off 5 pm without explanations or guilt and yet, work still gets done, and deadlines are met. “Things still got done. Deadlines were met. No one flinched,” she said.Tripathi further pointed out how meetings in Indian MNCs are frequently scheduled to suit Western time zones, assuming Indian employees will stretch late into the night. “It is assumed that Indian guy will take calls even at 10pm ,” she wrote.Concluding her post, the entrepreneur said, “To all the people who are planning to come back to India after a professional stint in the West, this is what stings the most. Be prepared to be micromanaged, mrusted and misjudged for your priorities.”“Maybe it’s time we stop rewarding exhaustion and start respecting people who protect their energy. Because being available 24/7 doesn’t make you valuable. It means you are taken for granted,” she added.(Also Read: Indian man in Belgium reveals why many Indians abroad hesitate to return: ‘It’s work-life balance’)How did social media react?Tripathi’s post quickly struck a chord online, drawing a flood of reactions from professionals who shared similar experiences.“The problem is Indian MNCs is we have normalized presenteeism and branded it as dedication. Committment is still measured visibility and not value. Indian employees are expected to absorb everyone’s else timezones, stretch endlessly and still provide evidence of dedication. A poor boundary designed and disguised as work ethic,” one user commented.“This isn’t about hours—it’s about outcomes vs optics. In many places, visibility still gets rewarded over productivity. The shift we need is simple: respect delivery, not desk time,” wrote another.“This is very relatable. In many workplaces, staying late is still seen as commitment, while leaving on time feels like a lack of dedication. The real shift needed is from measuring hours to measuring outcomes. When expectations are clear, people can deliver without stretching their workday unnecessarily,” commented a third user.However, some users pushed back, saying that blindly copying Western practices without considering cultural nuances may not be ideal. “Each culture is different. Only comparing half hearted outcomes is not wise. Indian teams often go out for lunch together, there are other social and communal breaks built in. Not saying we should not be striving for a good work life balance in India but copying western practices blindly without giving proper due consideration to cultural nuances of each work culture is not an optimal perspective,” the user wrote.